Cleaning/Sealing Gas Tank

[GTDOUG]

I just completed the gas resealing and cleaning. I agree with Bill Burke's suggestion! POR 15 did did a wonderful job! I do have a few other suggestion to make this job easier and have a better result in the end.

1. Be sure to seal filler cap vent holes. Duct tape seams to work the best. I did have to replace the tape several times after shaking the tank.

2. I used rubber plugs to seal the petcock holes. The size of the pluges are extremely important. Plugs can be knocked out creating a huge mess. A side note on this: The stripper can develope a great deal of pressure and shoot your plugs ougt of the petcock holes. Opening the filler cap and taking your time at the stage of removing the stripper is important.

3. Using two 5 gallon plastic buckets worked best for me to creat a stable perch for the tank. This method also allowed both petcock holes to drain into the buckets at the same time. This promotes removal of rust and paint flakes.

4. The supplied stripper by POR 15 is good, however one treatment was not enough for me. Waiting another 4 to 5 days was not for me. So a trip to the auto part store (Kragen) I found an aircraft paint stripper which was very good. Since I had a previous sealer in the tank (Kreem) it took two more treatments with the store bought stripper to remove all visable traces of paint and sealer.

5. The center bottom portion of the tank, even with a string of nuts and ball bearings did not come clean. A small wire brush attached to wood dowel was able to reach this section of what I could see through the filler.

6. Do not forget to throughly clean the petcocks. I found a great deal of rust in them by blowing with compressed air through the outlet.

Thanks to all for the great help.
GT Doug

 

[GTDOUG]

More Notes on Gas Tank Sealing:

1. Do not worry if you use your favorite plastic bucket (Or your wife,s) POR 15 does not adhear to smooth plastic. I was able to remove drained POR 15 from the bucket after this product had dried.

2. I was very worried about damage to paint from rattling nuts in the tank. This was not a problem, however I found the best method was to use safety wire and create a string of nuts and then slide this assembly along the inner surface of the tank.
GT Doug

 

[pschuyler]

Agreed. I've used it on two tanks, the older ten years ago. The inside still looks great. If you have any scaling or loose older coating, drop in a piece of chain or some sheetmetal screws and shake it around to remove the unwanted then proceed with the POR15 kit. It comes in a box with all the necessary chemicals and coating mix. Label says "Motorcycle Fuel Tank Repair Kit from POR-15. SKU is 80336 97207. I think the price is around $30.

Where dis you get the kit for $30?